I’ve always said that every Iraq/ Afghanistan experience can be different.
You can spend the entire deployment working on a large camp in an office. Or you could be “outside the wire” intermixing with the public/conducting missions/ engaging the enemy in combat for the entire deployment.
I’ve had both types of deployments.
They both suck. Check out what they are doing below to build an outpost. I’ve done some of this myself!
I’ve personally never deployed to large camps like Victory/ Anaconda (Iraq) or Bagram/ Kandahar (Afghanistan). I prefer smaller intimate camps. (not that I had a say in the matter) Plus there are less things to spend your money on if there is no Coffee Bean, post exchange filled with tempting treats or a pizza parlor (Kandahar). As a leader, a smaller camp provides you more control over your troops. I like that.
But that doesn’t mean that living on these larger camps aren’t dangerous for our troops.
Large camps/ bases are a softer/ easier target for the enemy to attack. You can also be drummed into a false sense of security by your daily routine. That is until that rocket comes crashing down on your hooch. Hopefully you were at chow when this occurred. There are just more creature comforts for the troops at these large installations. Yes, running showers are a creature comfort! I didn’t shower for 39 days when we invaded Iraq. I took sponge bathing to a whole new level! I don’t even want to get started about no air condition in Iraq in the spring/ summer!
Ha! Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Remember our boys in the Ardennes forest during World War II? (Check out Steve Ambrose’s WWII book or watch Band of Brothers). The hardships our troops go through today pales in comparison to those days!
But the most difficult hardship that all service members face while deployed spans all generations. We miss our loved ones and life back in the states. We think about it constantly and dream of returning home. Not being with our loved ones is the worst.
This isn’t my story but I think it speaks to the great disparity in a service members experience while deployed. I figured you wouldn’t want to see picture of huge dinning facilities of coffee shops. So I included some great video and picture of some hard living while deployed.
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